Real-World Task
Complete up to 15-20 items on a Canada census form or similar data collection form. Find and complete the gender identity categories.
Planning Context
Helpful Knowledge:
- Basic personal information
- Format of addresses and phone numbers
Context:
- Statistics Canada collects census information to better understand the people of Canada.
- It is common to complete a census form. These are usually completed every five years (in years ending in 1 and 6, e.g. 2021 and 2026).
- The information you give on a census form is confidential.
Vocabulary and Grammar
Sample Vocabulary:
- complete
- fill in
- census
- form
- confidential
- statistics
- population
- gender
Sample Grammar:
- Phrasal verbs: fill in, fill out
Knowledge and Strategies
Textual and Functional Knowledge:
- You must keep your writing on a form to the space provided.
- It’s often possible to complete a form on a computer, by editing a PDF file, rather than hand-writing a form. Some people complete as much information as they can on the computer, and then print the form to sign it.
Sociolinguistic Knowledge:
- The census form gives the Government of Canada information to help plan for Canada’s future and to support the people of Canada.
Activities and Tasks
Sample Skill-Building Activities:
- As a class, look at a large map of Canada, like a wall map. Elicit from learners the names of all the provinces and territories they know and write them on the board. Fill in any missing provinces and territories. Give the class a set of sticky notes with the names of each province or territory. Have them label the map using any resource they can, including names on the map, Google maps, an atlas, and so on.
- Discuss as a class: What do they know about Canada as a country? Write down what they say about Canada. Ask learners: How many people are there in Canada? Have a learner volunteer to look up the population of Canada. Ask learners: How do we know how many people there are? Is it important to know how many people there are? Why or why not?
- Teach learners what a census is. Explain that every five years, the Government of Canada counts every person in Canada. They also use this as a time to find out more about people in Canada, such as where they live, how many people live in their homes, how much money they earn, what languages they speak, and so on. Make sure to explain to learners that their information is confidential and that the Government of Canada uses the information to plan for things like how many schools, hospitals, roads, and so on.
- Review the task vocabulary. Use vocabulary cards with words, pictures, and very simple definitions. Practice the vocabulary by completing activities such as matching, filling in the blanks, crossword puzzles, and word searches.
- Incorporate phonics activities based on vocabulary words and other vocabulary related to the topic.
- Review phrasal verbs, including fill in and fill out. Also include common phrasal verbs for the classroom such as hand out, stand up, sit down, pick up, pick out, and so on. Use TPR (Total Physical Response) to practice phrasal verbs. Call out an action with a phrasal verb and have learners respond with the correct action. After a few rounds, have learners take turns calling out the actions.
- Review personal information. Use your own personal information to complete an extended form.
- Discuss gender. Elicit from learners words such as man / woman or male / female. Discuss with learners that there are other genders; some people identify themselves as a different gender than man or woman.
- Practice completing a form online, such as a form created by the instructor on Google Forms.
- Read a short, instructor-made text about the census in Canada and the information that is collected. Read the text to learners, and then have learners read it themselves and read it with a partner. Work with a partner to complete comprehension questions about the text.
Sample Skill-Using Tasks:
- Complete a gap-fill activity with a partner in which you have some of the information for a form and they have the rest. Ask your partner questions to complete your form and answer your partner’s questions so they can complete theirs.
Sample Assessment Tasks:
- Using fictional information given to you, complete up to 15-20 items on a Canada census form or similar data collection form. Find and complete the gender identity categories.
Teaching Considerations
Cultural Considerations:
- Some learners may not trust how governments use personal information. Teach that the Government of Canada uses census information to plan for schools, hospitals, and so on.
Digital Literacy Strategies:
Successful completion of some tasks may require some baseline knowledge and digital skills.
Learners may need to:
- Have keyboarding and typing skills.
- Locate, navigate and use websites.
- Use familiar apps, social media platforms and web pages.
- Read information from a screen.
- Navigate camera and microphone.
- Adjust volume on device.
Instructors can:
- Dedicate time to improve digital literacy for learners.
- Make and/ or adapt digital materials.
- Introduce websites that are relevant to the task(s).
- Support learners in finding, navigating and using websites.
- Teach reading strategies such as skimming and scanning to find information on websites.
- Introduce tools and apps that can aid learners in coping with communication barriers, such as translation, pronunciation, text to speech, speech to text tools and so on.
- Share knowledge and strategies to ensure online safety.
- Refer learners to programs to improve their digital skills.
Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Indigenization Strategies:
- Use diverse representations of people in all your learning resources and images, including people who are 2SLGBTQIA+, Indigenous, Francophone and of other cultures, and people who have disabilities or who are neurodivergent. Consider this diversity as you choose names for characters in stories you create as well.
- When giving examples of languages spoken, include a variety of languages including the languages the learners in the class speak, French, and local Indigenous languages.
Trauma-informed Strategies:
Possible Trauma Triggers:
- Learners who have experienced trauma may not want to give their personal information to a government. Help learners understand that census information is confidential and is used to support people in Canada.
- Learners who have come to Canada as a refugee may not have chosen Canada as a home so much as fled a place where they were in danger. They may have ambivalent feelings about living in Canada and learning about Canadian culture.
- When teaching about Canada, you may teach about things that are triggering to learners who have experienced trauma. We can’t know what the triggers might be and what seems commonplace to us may have a triggering component for learners. Be aware of this and be prepared to support learners as needed.
Strategies:
- Give learners advance warning of this topic and be aware that there may be learners who require support.
- Learners who have experienced trauma often benefit from having routine. Create a safe and supportive classroom environment by establishing familiar routines, repeated activities, and model friendly and non-evaluative interactions.
- Learners will benefit from positive relationships established in the classroom with the instructor and peers.
- Learners who have experienced trauma benefit from having choices.
- Allow learners choice:
- the choice to work on a different topic
- the choice to share or not share their own experiences
- the choice to work alone or to work with others
- the choice to take care of themselves
- the choice to step out of the learning environment
- Allow learners choice:
- When learners have shared personal distressing or traumatic experiences, make space for learners to feel safe and recover from the experience of sharing their experiences. Follow the activities which may make learners feel vulnerable with routine, predictable and comforting activities.
- Giving learners the knowledge, skills and language to access resources can be empowering.
Resources
Outings, Guest Speaker Suggestions, Extension Activities:
- Complete a class census. Have learners answer a simple form of a few questions (name, where are you from, what languages do you speak, gender, and so on). Have learners copy their answers onto index cards or sticky notes and then have learners work in groups to organize the answers into categories and count how many learners speak each language, how many learners are women, and so on.
Realia:
- Maps of Canada
- Sample forms
- Sample online forms
Units and Modules:
- Tutela: Following Instructions: Canadian Citizenship: CLB 3/4
(Not literacy but can be adapted)
Lessons and Activities:
- LINC 4 Classroom Activities Canada (p.85-140) (Not literacy but can be adapted)
- Tutela: Norquest LINC Phonics Curriculum: CLB 4L
- A search of NLCG (nlcg.achev.ca) may provide additional tasks that can be adapted.
Multimedia:
Detailed Sample Task
This exemplar is aligned with the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) and is designed to guide and inform your lesson and module planning. Consult the Canadian Language Benchmarks English as a Second Language for Adults for detailed performance descriptors at this benchmark and skill.
The information in this document is not exhaustive and can be expanded on. As well, you can use more learner-friendly language in your materials and assessments.
This is NOT a lesson or module plan.
